A defamation suit filed by a Democratic district clerk candidate against her opponent was dismissed Friday afternoon.

Judge Ray Wheless, sitting in the 101st Judicial District Court for Judge Martin Lowy, dismissed the case filed by Felicia Pitre last month.

Pitre filed an injunction April 15 asking the 101st Judicial District Court to prevent her opponent, Tarsha Hardy, from stating or publishing information about a 2001 indictment alleging vote tampering.

Hardy's lawyers filed a motion to dismiss April 22 stating she is protected under the Citizens Protection Act.

"We respect the courts ruling, but we respectfully disagree," Pitre's lawyer Peter Schulte said after Friday's hearing. "[Hardy] knew the information was not truthful and it was done maliciously to defame my client."

"My opponent’s activity, though expunged from her legal record, has not beenexpunged from her human record or the memory of the Dallas County voters sheviolated," Hardy said in a prepared statement.

Hardy’s campaign sent a mailer to Democratic primary voters in February that noted a 2001 vote tampering charge against Pitre.

Pitre helped an elderly blind woman with her ballot in a 2001 Dallas ISD trustee runoff election. But she did not record her assistance by signing the mail ballot’s “carrier” envelope.

The case against Pitre, who now works for the district clerk’s office, was eventually dropped after her attorneys argued that the allegation was not a crime under the state election code at the time.

In the March 4 Democratic primary, Hardy received 28 percent of the vote, while Pitre got about 20 percent. The current district clerk, Gary Fitzsimmons, has publicly backed Pitre.

Schulte said he plans to appeal the court's ruling.

Pitre and Hardy are in a runoff set for May 27. Early voting starts Monday.